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Microsoft

Microsoft Launches Skype For Outlook.com

Microsoft announced that Skype integration inside its Outlook.com email service is now live and out of preview in the U.S., the U.K., Germany, France, Brazil and Canada. The combination of Skype and Outlook.com brings together two of Microsoft’s most popular services, and provides the email service with a material competitive edge in its war with Google’s Gmail. Outlook.com has enjoyed a quickly growing user base that expanded organically, and also via a massive infusion of Hotmail users, who Microsoft shunted over as it shuttered the older service in favor of the new.

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Microsoft

Microsoft Rolls Out First Windows 8.1 Bug Fixes

The Windows 8.1 Preview has received its first set of bug fixes less than a week after its debut. Rolled out on Tuesday, the six updates address several different issues, two of which are rated important and four rated as recommended items. One of the important updates is simply a virus definition update for Windows Defender, the default security program for Windows 8 and 8.1. The other update improves the compatibility between Windows 8.1 and several third-party programs, such as AutoCAD, Parallels Desktop, Norton security software, and AVG Internet Security.

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Microsoft

Windows 8.1's Start Button Isn’t a Start Button

The headlines are loud and clear. Microsoft brings back the Start Button in Windows 8! Huzzah! ZONG! But don’t believe the hype. We’ve been duped. Windows 8.1's Start Button isn’t the Start Button of old. The classic multi-step application launcher is still missing. Windows 8.1's Start Button is more of a shortcut to the Start Menu — you know, the screen with the little colorful icons. A right-click on the so-called Start Button pulls up a quick launch menu of shorts. The menu displays a list of administrative tools like Power Options, Event View, Disk Management and Windows Shells. It’s not customizable.

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Microsoft

How Windows 8.1 Upgrades Will Get to You

Microsoft is sharing more on how existing Windows 8 and Windows RT users will be able to upgrade to Windows 8.1 "Blue" preview and final. With the public preview builds of Windows 8.1 due out later this month, a number of users are wondering how Microsoft plans to handle the upgrade. At TechEd North America, officials shared some details on that topic in a session entitled "Windows RT in the Enterprise." Microsoft officials have said previously that the company plans to deliver the public preview of Windows 8.1, codenamed "Blue," via the Windows Store on June 26.

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Microsoft

Microsoft Adds Start Button to Windows 8.1

Windows 8.1, which will be available for download in a preview version on June 26, will feature the good old Start button in desktop mode. Users who dislike the new Modern UI/Metro interface will also be able to boot right to the desktop. While rumors about the return of the Start button had long been making the rounds, Antoine Leblond, Microsoft’s corporate VP for Windows Program Management, made the official announcement on the Windows Blog this morning.

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Microsoft

Windows Blue Gets Official name: Windows 8.1

The update to the struggling Windows 8 operating system, known by the code name "Blue," will be called Windows 8.1, a naming convention that Microsoft has used for its software updates for years. Tami Reller, the chief marketing officer and chief financial officer of Microsoft's Windows division, disclosed the name during a speech at J.P. Morgan's Global Technology, Media and Telecom Conference in Boston this morning.

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Windows 8 on Smaller Touch-Enabled Devices

During its Q3 2013 earnings call yesterday, Microsoft’s outgoing CFO Peter Klein noted that the company plans to bring Windows 8 to smaller devices. Until now, Windows 8 was mostly geared toward desktops and larger tablets, including Microsoft’s own Surface and RT machines. With the forthcoming Windows 8 Blue, rumor had it that Microsoft would enable its OEMs to run Windows 8 on smaller devices, too.

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Microsoft

Windows 8.1 'Boot to Desktop' Rumor

A Windows 8.1 option to boot to desktop? That seductive rumor has been making the rounds over the weekend. What could be a reflection of wishful thinking, a post at WinBeta (via Neowin), cites a Russian-language Web site as the source. Apparently, there is Windows 8.1 code that disables the Metro Start Screen and sends you "to the desktop automatically."

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Microsoft

Windows Azure Opens Active Directory

Microsoft has opened its Active Directory (AD) to general availability on Windows Azure, giving developers access to the single-sign-on service for access to the suite of Microsoft services, third-party apps and SaaS providers. Active Directory is the long-time single point of access to Microsoft Windows technologies. The Windows Azure AD compatibility means customers can provide similar controls online that had traditionally been integrated into servers managed by customers and their IT departments.

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Microsoft

Microsoft: jQuery 2.0 Will Add Full Support For Win Store Apps

The next version of jQuery, the popular JavaScript library, will drop support for Internet Explorer 6, 7, and 8, but that doesn’t mean Microsoft isn’t very bullish about getting developers to use jQuery 2.0 and HTML5 to develop “a new wave of jQuery-based Windows Store applications.” As Microsoft announced, Microsoft Open Technologies, the company’s wholly owned open source-focused subsidiary, and the JavaScript experts at appendTo, have been working with the jQuery community to ensure that the next version of the framework offers full support for Windows Store applications.

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